Where does QB Ben Roethlisberger rank among the all-time greats?

This is almost certainly the last NFL season for Ben Roethlisberger. Here’s where the Steelers legend ranks among the league’s all-time greatest passers.

We all wanted Ben Roethlisberger to go out with a band in what was sure to be the final home game of his NFL career. Against the Cleveland Browns, Big Ben certainly showed his age, and he couldn’t get anything going down the field. He finished the game completing just 24 of 46 passes for 123 yards with a touchdown and an interception.

Regardless of the offensive struggles, Roethlisberger did enough to give his team a chance to win and the Steelers emerged victories in Ben’s final game. The energized crowd at Heinz Field gave their star quarterback the send-off he deserved in what proved to be one of the most emotional aftermaths of the Pittsburgh football game.

With likely just one career game remaining against the Baltimore Ravens, we can start looking back on the remarkable 18-year campaign Roethlisberger had with the Steelers. During his nearly two-decade tenure, Ben was able to make history in what is guaranteed to be a Hall of Fame career.

Here’s a look at his career statistics in some major passing categories as well as his all-time ranks among NFL quarterbacks in each, according to Pro Football Reference:

Just a few games back, Ben Roethlisberger passed fellow draftmate, Phillip Rivers, for 5th on the list of all-time passing leaders. He will finish his career only behind Tom Brady, Drew Brees, Peyton Manning, and Brett Favre. That’s some pretty elite company.

In addition to this honor, Roethlisberger will finish 5th in passing attempts and 8th in passing touchdowns. One of his most impressive stats, however, is that he is 3rd all-time in fourth-quarter comeback wins. His 40 comebacks narrowly trail just Peyton Manning (43) and Tom Brady (42).

Ranking Ben Roethlisberger among the QBs of his era

It’s so hard to say where Ben Roethlisberger would rank among the greatest quarterbacks of all time. There have been so many phenomenal passers throughout the years, and each generation played with some different rules. However, I’ll take a stab at ranking Big Ben among the quarterbacks of his generation.

Despite his illustrious reputation and future Hall of Fame status, I wouldn’t go as far as to say that Roethlisberger was ever the single best player at his position during his career. In fact, there always seemed to be a few ahead of him.

This has more to do with playing in the greatest quarterback era of all time than anything else. At any given time in Ben’s career, I would rank him behind players like Tom Brady, Peyton Manning, Aaron Rodgers, and Drew Brees. In more recent years, players like Russell Wilson and Patrick Mahomes have had better seasons than Roethlisberger.

Still, this is some pretty elite company. Though the game is constantly changing, I think Ben is going to hold onto many of these rankings for quite some time.

Wherever you have Big Ben ranked among the quarterbacks of his era, we can all agree that he is a Hall of Famer and one of the best to ever wear the black and gold. He will be missed.